The Organ Of Your Body That You Most Need To Take Care Of To Avoid Alzheimer’s

Although the number of
individuals diagnosed with the disease Alzheimer’s is currently increasing
progressively and exponentially, the cause of this neurodegenerative disorder
is still unknown. Initially, blame was placed on the beta-amyloid proteins and
later on the tau proteins. These both remain a sign of the disease, although
their specific analysis is not commonly used as a diagnosis.

Now, recently, new
research points to a totally different origin to the brain: The Liver. At
least, so say those responsible for the new work presented at the International
Conference of the Alzheimer’s Association 2018 (AAIC held recently in Chicago.

New research on Alzheimer’s:

According to the new
research, there would be molecules called plasmalogens, produced by the liver
that would confer protection to the brain. If these substances were not
produced correctly, cognitive deficits would occur, such as dementia in general
or Alzheimer’s in particular.

Plasmalogens are a class
of lipids or fats. Some subtypes of these molecules help the correct
functioning of the neuronal junctions or synapses so that a smaller number of
them could cause problems. Therefore, the researchers set out to investigate
whether the reduced levels of certain plasmalogens could actually increase the
risk of Alzheimer’s.

The liver as a collaborator in Alzheimer’s:

In fact, this would not
be the first research that would have linked the liver to an increased risk of
Alzheimer’s. For example, during the past year 2011, a study already linked the
liver to this disease by detecting that this organ is responsible for
expressing a gene whose role would be key in the progress of beta-amyloid
protein.

Another work, published
in 2010 in Plos ONE, detected that an enzyme produced by the liver would be
responsible for protecting the brain against neurodegenerative lesions. And, if
this enzyme does not occur normally, brain metabolism would be affected. Again,
the liver would have been responsible for protecting the brain, as in the
current study.

Finally, other studies
have come to relate the effects of diet on the liver directly and on the brain
indirectly. Another study conducted in 2016 came to suggest an association between
non-alcoholic fatty liver, a metabolic problem on the rise today and an
increased risk of Alzheimer’s.
Even so, for the time being, those responsible for the current work do not
assure that the liver can cause cognitive problems but they do suggest that
future research should focus on finding other causal routes of the disease, in
order to improve the approach and treatment of Alzheimer’s.